For Paraguayans of all social strata and backgrounds, relatives and kin were the primary focus of an individual's loyalties and identity. In varying degrees of closeness, depending on individual circumstances and social class, the relatives included godchildren, godparents, and lots of members of the extended relatives. Paraguayans felt some reserve toward someone unable to claim relationship through kinship or marriage. Relatives and kin--not the community-- were the middle of the social universe. An individual could expect assistance from extended kin on an advertisement hoc basis in times of require. Poorer Paraguayans relied on their mother's relatives; the more prosperous were more even-handed in their dealings with extended kin. The nation's elite buttressed its economic advantages through a web of far-reaching kinship ties. The truly elite relatives counted among its kindred huge landholders, merchants, intellectuals, and military officers. Political allegiances also reflected relatives loyalties; all obtainable kin were marshalled in support of the individual's political efforts.
Reality was often at odds with the Paraguayan ideal of extended kinship ties. Because the poor migrated often and often had unstable marital unions, relatives usually were well-known only for a generation earlier and following a given individual. The rich were more skilful at tracing lines of descent through several generations. This was a function of their greater marital stability and their unconditional interest in maintaining the links that tied them to potential inheritance. Relatives in prosperous families often were not as close as their less prosperous counterparts, because the well-to-do relied less on relatives for mutual aid and were potential competitors for inheritance.

 

ciao sei ancora in paraguay a asunsion? puoi aiutarmi ? come si sta? si può trovare lavoro ora? ciao grazie